Crestview Elementary School students learn about Christmas around the world

Karen Michael

Saturday

Dec 25, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Crestview Elementary School first-graders took a trip around the world with passports and suitcases this month without leaving the first-grade hallway.

Students were assigned the homework of decorating a paper bag to look like a suitcase before their whirlwind trip through eight countries. They also had to prepare their passports, but they did not have to worry about background checks or awful photos since they made their own.

Saundra Wimberley, a 10-year teacher at Crestview, said the Christmas Around the World project began during her first year at the school.

“It’s done in quite a few places,” she said. She said there are many websites where teachers can look up information on how to do Christmas Around the World.

“We very quickly figured out it was a very rich way to be teaching the content through the traditions of these countries,” said Wimberley.

Four Crestview first-grade classes participated. Students went to four “countries” each morning on Tuesday and Wednesday the week before school was out: Germany, Italy, Greece, Japan, Holland, Mexico, France and Australia.

As they filed into the rooms with their paper sack suitcases, they were required to present a passport, which was stamped by the teacher of that country.

Wimberley said teachers use the activity during the last week of the semester, when students are typically a little more active.

“They’re just a little bit more active, so you’ve got to understand how to keep their minds engaged in what you’ve got to accomplish,” said Wimberley. “Going into other people’s rooms is always exciting, because it’s a new place to learn,” she said. By the afternoons, she said first-graders are usually exhausted from their journeys.

On the second day, Wimberley’s room morphed into an Australian Christmas scene.

Wimberley sang a song to them, “Christmas in Summertime,” and explained about northern and southern hemispheres. Having three students stand and wave their arms out in opposite directions like the sun’s rays, she revolved around them and showed how their rays would hit different parts of Earth during a yearly revolution.

The first-grade teacher said later in the year, when students hit the idea of the Earth revolving around the sun during science, they will remember the Australian lesson from Christmas Around the World.

During her presentation on France the day before, Wimberley said she divided classes into two groups, one doing art and one learning some French words. In the past, students were more excited about doing art, she said, but this year’s first-graders cheered when told they would be learning another language.

“I can’t remember them cheering for that before,” said Wimberley, noting that each group of students has a different personality.

Students were also more literal about the “trip” this year, she said.

“My kids fell apart this year. They just knew they were getting on an airplane, and they were concerned they wouldn’t get back in time for Christmas,” said Wimberley.

Another teacher, Joy Burkhalter, said she talked about Christmas in Holland and Mexico during the two-day project.

Students come to a realization that things are different in other parts of the world through the lessons, said Burkhalter.

“They’re just so intrigued by different languages, different cultures,” said Burkhalter. “The kids have a blast doing it.”

Teacher Bridget Brown said students learned about Christmas in Greece and Japan in her class. Because Greece is surrounded by ocean, she said Saint Nicholas is also known there as the Protector of the Sea, and people decorate their boats instead of their homes.

Christmas Around the World hits on Texas Education Agency requirements from geography, social studies, art, language arts and even technology when teachers use Powerpoint presentations, Brown said.

To comment on this story:

karen.michael@lubbockonline.com • 766-8726

terry.greenberg@lubbockonline.com • 766-8700

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